With the growing demand for telehealth services, health care providers are continuously searching for reliable solutions that can help improve the way they talk and engage with patients via phone or virtual meetings. The good news is there are now telehealth platforms that providers can use to communicate with patients and colleagues online while staying safe and compliant with HIPAA rules and guidelines.
Below, you’ll find our list of the best HIPAA-compliant telehealth platforms that are not only ideal for providing virtual healthcare services but also for facilitating other healthcare-related tasks such as education, intervention, and patient monitoring.
Table of Contents
- What Are the Four Types of Telehealth?
- 5 Best HIPAA Compliant Telehealth Platforms
- Can I Do Telehealth on My Phone?
- What Is the Best Telehealth Platform?
- Final Thoughts
In essence, telehealth is all about utilizing technology to provide remote healthcare services and facilitate healthcare-related services, including patient education, self-care, billing, and remote patient monitoring. With the help of modern communication tools and apps, healthcare providers can now instantly connect with patients through voice calls, video chats, and instant messaging. This way, it’s also easier for patients to get in touch with their healthcare providers even without an in-person visit.
What Are the Four Types of Telehealth?
Today, there are four different types of telehealth services that exist. Knowing each type will help you determine which one would suit your profession or specialty.
- Live video (synchronous telehealth) – With synchronous telehealth, providers connect and engage with patients in real-time via video call or live chat software.
- Store-and-Forward (asynchronous telehealth) – This type of telehealth service often involves collecting and storing data in a cloud-based platform (ex. online patient forms).
- mHealth (mobile health) – mHealth uses wearables and mobile devices to provide specialized healthcare services (ex. health apps).
- Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) – This type of telehealth service enables providers to remotely track and monitor a patient’s health status using specialized medical devices.
5 Best HIPAA Compliant Telehealth Platforms
In offering telehealth services, it is crucial to maintain high-quality care by choosing a reliable platform that’s not only secure but also HIPAA-compliant. Speaking of which, here are some of today’s best telehealth platforms that are worth checking out.
Doximity
Doximity is, by far, one of today’s most comprehensive and user-friendly telehealth platforms. This platform allows face-to-face video calls, direct messaging, and voice calls. It also enables users to search for telehealth providers within the area and book an online appointment without any hassle. When you download the Doximity app, you’ll also get access to various CME materials and send HIPAA-compliant faxes using only your cell phone or laptop.
VSee
VSee is another HIPAA-compliant telehealth solution. It is ideal for video visits, patient monitoring, and remote physical examinations. VSee is also applicable for medical professionals looking for a reliable virtual practice solution that supports self-scheduling, group meetings, online payments, and automated patient routing.
Doxy
Doxy offers telehealth services for patients, clinics, and healthcare providers. Aside from being HIPAA-compliant, the platform uses state-of-the-art encryption technology to maintain data integrity and privacy. With Doxy, telehealth providers can instantly communicate with patients via chat and video calls. It also supports screen sharing, group calls, and direct file transfers.
Zoom for Healthcare
Zoom for Healthcare provides a unified platform for healthcare professionals looking for a secure and HIPAA-compliant telehealth solution. Just like its parent product, Zoom for Healthcare offers HD video and audio calls even in low-bandwidth connections. It is also ideal for behavioral therapists who want to organize group therapies without the frequent lags and disconnections.
Medici
Medici is another HIPAA-compliant solution that offers a seamless connection between patients and telehealth providers. With Medici, it’s easy to conduct HD video visits that seamlessly integrate with your existing healthcare workflow. It also helps create a better experience for patients since it doesn’t require them to create an account or download an app. This platform supports group chats, message broadcasting, file sharing, and post-consult billing. It can also translate chat conversations in real-time.
Can I Do Telehealth on My Phone?
Telehealth is not only limited to specialized medical devices and computers. Nowadays, patients can use apps to monitor their health status. Patients can also use their phones to identify life-threatening symptoms, which is quite helpful for managing chronic conditions. By using mHealth apps, it’s easier to keep track of a patient’s medications and monitor vital signs outside the hospital setting.
Some of today’s most notable mHealth apps include Eufylife, Health Pal, and even Apple Health.
What Is the Best Telehealth Platform?
When choosing amongst today’s wide selection of telehealth platforms, the first thing that you need to make sure of is whether it is compliant with HIPAA. It should also have the proper safeguarding measures to handle PHI (protected health information). Feature-wise, it is best to choose a comprehensive platform that can streamline the work process and provide faster turnaround times.
Out of the five platforms we’ve listed above, our top choice would be Doximity since it also allows faxing through its secure and HIPAA-compliant platform.
As an alternative to the built-in fax feature of Doximity, you can use iFax. With our revolutionary cloud-based faxing service, you can send and receive HIPAA-compliant faxes that are fully encrypted using the highest level of encryption. iFax also offers easy integration to existing health management systems and medical billing platforms.
With iFax, you can efficiently manage your document workflows and improve patient satisfaction by decreasing wait times.
Final Thoughts
Telehealth platforms are fundamental to the proper implementation and delivery of online healthcare services. Through these platforms, healthcare providers can efficiently render their services to patients who cannot immediately go for in-office visits due to various predicaments such as disability and distance. Therefore, it is crucial to choose a platform that can deliver telehealth services in the most efficient way possible.
If you need a reliable HIPAA-compliant fax solution, check out iFax. Our cloud-based fax service offers advanced features that enable you to fax securely while improving your document workflows. Learn more about how iFax works and start faxing from your desktop or cell phone.
